Jewish donors help raise $1.3M for Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim man who disarmed a Bondi Beach attacker
(JTA) — A crowdfunding campaign to support Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim fruit seller shot after disarming one of the men who was attacking a Hanukkah event in Sydney, generated $1.3 million in its first day — with the largest donation coming from the American Jewish billionaire Bill Ackman.
Ackman gave $66,000 to the GoFundMe for al Ahmed and promoted the campaign to his followers, tweeting, “This is the verified link for the Bondi hero.”
In a viral video on Dec. 14, shortly after the attack on Bondi Beach that left 15 killed and over 40 injured, al Ahmed, 43, can be seen crouching behind a car before jumping into action as one of the terrorists shoots a firearm at the Jewish celebration. Al Ahmed, a Syrian-born father of two who was unarmed, then jumped on the attacker from behind, wresting the firearm from his hands.
“In a moment of chaos and danger, he stepped forward without hesitation,” the sponsors of the GoFundMe, Car Hub Australia, wrote on the page. “His actions were selfless, instinctive, and undeniably heroic, taken without regard for his own safety. Early reports indicate he was shot twice in the process while protecting others.”
As al Ahmed’s heroic actions were shared widely on social media on Sunday, he garnered praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Seven men detained near Bondi Beach after tip: report
(JNS) — Police agents on Thursday detained seven men with a Middle Eastern appearance who were traveling in two cars to Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, a Jewish community leader told JNS based on initial reports from the scene.
The operation was “apparently after police were tipped off,” the community leader, Robert Gregory, CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, told JNS.
New South Wales Police said in a statement shortly after 8:15 p.m. that the operation had concluded and there was no ongoing risk to the community.
“Police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” the statement said. The statement did not say whether the detainees had been released or if anything had been recovered in their possession.
Gregory said that in his understanding, police were responding to information that the men were headed to the scene of the Dec. 14 massacre, in which two suspected jihadists murdered 15 people and wounded dozens more at a Chanukah celebration.
At least one car had license plates identifying it as registered in Victoria, the state south of New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney. Police rammed that car with a tactical operations unit vehicle before detaining the men, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“It remains to be seen exactly what happened,” Gregory said. “Police took it very seriously; it’s quite intense policing for Australia.”
Sydney Opera House lit by giant menorah as vigils for Bondi Beach victims take place across Australia
(JTA) — The Sydney Opera House was illuminated by a large menorah the night of Dec. 15, a solemn tribute to the 15 lives lost the previous day in an antisemitic terror attack that rocked Australia’s Jewish community.
The projected menorah, displayed on the iconic opera house’s largest sail, was called for by the premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns.
“Lighting the Opera House is a simple but powerful gesture: a message to the world that we cherish our Jewish community, that we honour their courage, and that we stand with them in solidarity and love,” Minns said in a statement. “Tonight, those candles are a symbol of resilience and a reminder that even in darkness, we choose to stand with one another.”
The light of the menorah was one of several acts of remembrance that sprung up across Australia on Dec. 15, a day after two terrorists opened fire on a ChabadHanukkah event on Bondi Beach.
In an interview with the Australian broadcaster ABC on Monday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the two gunmen “weren’t part of a wider cell,” and had “engaged in this act of antisemitism, driven by ideology.”
Hundreds of bouquets were placed around a large menorah in front of the Bondi Pavilion on Dec. 15, where more than 1,000 people gathered for a vigil, according to ABC.
Wikipedia debating if attack targeting Jews at Sydney Chanukah event was ‘terror’
(JNS) — The attack, in which gunmen thought to be a father and son shot and killed 15 people at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, is widely described as a terror attack. But editors on Wikipedia are debating whether that phrase is appropriate or it should just be called a “shooting.”
The site’s current page about the incident refers to a “shooting” in the headline and, in the body of the article, to a “terrorist mass shooting.”
Editors on the site, who are volunteer and often unnamed, are also reportedly trying to keep the names of the shooters out of the article. Law enforcement have said that the shooters were inspired by ISIS.
On the “talk” section of the page, editors on Wikipedia are debating whether a sufficient number of sources has called the attack “terror” and if the suspected gunmen, one of whom is dead, are public figures who ought to be named.
Deborah Lipstadt, former U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University, stated that if editors are actually trying to characterize the attack merely as a “shooting” on Wikipedia, then that’s “hardly a surprise.
“Just Wikipedia being true to itself when it concerns Israel, Jews, antisemitism,” she stated.
“Chanukah should be celebrated with oil lighting, not gaslighting,” added David May, research manager and senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Netanyahu demands global action on antisemitism
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the West Dec. 16 to bolster security for Jews worldwide following the shooting at a Chabad Chanukah event in Sydney, Australia, that killed 15 people and wounded dozens more.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to combat antisemitism and provide the necessary security and safety for Jewish communities around the world,” Netanyahu said in a social media post. “And they should heed our warnings. I demand that they act — now.”
A father and son opened fire at a Bondi Beach park during celebrations of the Jewish festival. The surviving son was charged on Dec. 17 with murder, terrorism and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder. Australian authorities say the two men appeared to be motivated by Islamic State ideology.
